


A Little Edgy

by keelywolfe



Series: Spicyhoney Standalones [21]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Underfell Papyrus/Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), baby bones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26479711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keelywolfe/pseuds/keelywolfe
Summary: Stretch seriously hadn’t signed on for this shit. For one, he’s a terrible babysitter.
Relationships: Papyrus/Papyrus (Undertale), Spicyhoney, Underfell Papyrus/Underswap Papyrus
Series: Spicyhoney Standalones [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925041
Comments: 19
Kudos: 69





	1. A Little Edgy

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting from my shorts anthology to gather all the chapters in one place.

* * *

“you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Stretch stared at the tiny blanket-wrapped bundle in his arms. The infant slept on, his little sockets closed. It had been ages since Stretch had held a baby but instinct had him cradling this one in the crook of his arm, holding him close.

“does it fucking look like i’m kidding?” Red’s voice cracked and Stretch could see the tremor in his hands. Darkness shadowed his sockets. "look, he can’t stay in underfell and i can’t keep making excuses to why i’m not at my sentry posts. i can lie my way around it for boss but we can’t both be out. it’s just for today, the magic’s not supposed to last much longer.“

"how did it even happen?” Stretch couldn’t stop staring at the baby. His socket wasn’t cracked and he was a lot fucking smaller but it was obvious it was Edge. A very tiny Edge dressed in footie pajamas. There was a little hood pulled over his skull with kitten ears on it.

Stretch wasn’t positive but he suspected that this level of cute was possibly fatal.

“we can play truth or dare some other time,” Red snapped. “i have to get back. can you watch him or not?”

“i…but…” Stretch stammered, “but why me?”

“why not you? you took care of your bro when he was little, didn’t ya?”

“that was a long time ago!”

Red sighed and for once there was no smugness, no careless disinterest in the world around him. He looked tired and worried, his shoulders sagging.

“please,” Red gritted out. It sounded torn from him, like it had left him bleeding somewhere and Stretch swallowed hard.

“hey don't…look, i’ll keep him safe, all right?”

“promise?”

Stretch didn’t bother with false indignation. “i promise.”

He held out a pinkie and Red hooked it with his own gravely.

“okay, i gotta get back.” He slung a bag off his shoulder and Stretch noted with a sense of unreality that it had a colorful cartoon giraffe on the side. “here’s some stuff i got for him. he likes cinnamon bunnies but only give him half a one. break it up into little pieces or he’ll cram the whole thing in his mouth. he’s got a spare set of clothes and a bib—

"red,” Stretch interrupted him, “get lost, i’ve got this. hey, you be careful, all right? i don’t want to explain to him that i let you get dusted while i was babysitting.”

"nah, i’ll be fine,” Red waved off his concern. With a gentleness Stretch wouldn’t have guessed Red possessed, he pressed his mouth to baby Edge’s skull, his teeth clacking dully through the cushion of the hood. “be good, bro,” he murmured.

Stretch was pretty sure that this was what the beginnings of insanity felt like.

Red turned on his heel and stalked out the door. It slammed behind him and the baby stirred at the sound. He opened his sockets and looked up at Stretch with that solemnity all infants seemed to possess.

Huh, his eye lights were white. That brought up some questions.

As Stretch watched his tiny face slowly crumpled and when he parted his teeth a wail escaped him, thin and unhappy.

“all right, shhhh, it’s okay, kiddo,” Stretch soothed, cuddling him close. Maybe you really didn’t forget this shit because it seemed automatic to bounce him gently until little Edge settled into a hiccoughing whimper, “we’ll get you something to eat, how about that, baby bones?”

Digging through the bag turned up the cinnamon bunny, along with the bib and another set of footie pajamas, this one with panda ears. Stretch settled Edge to sit on his lap, breaking off little pieces to feed him. Edge seemed just as content to smash the bits of pastry into his face as he was to eat them but whatever. His unintelligible babbles were sweet and bright, and when he smiled happily up at Stretch with his crumb covered teeth, Stretch was pretty sure he lost a point off his HP.

“i should warn you, i’m gonna take about a thousand pictures of this,” Stretch told him, wiping away a soggy crumb from Edge’s teeth with his thumb.

“Bzzzzrpt,” Edge said agreeably. He squealed in delight as Stretch scooped him up and flopped on his back to hold the baby above him. His little arms outstretched, Edge shrieked and giggled as Stretch swooped him around, until he yawned hugely, rubbing at his tiny sockets.

“okay, baby bones,” Stretch cuddled him close, climbing to his feet just long enough to sprawl out on the sofa, snagging the blanket draped over the back. Edge settled against him, tucking his little head against Stretch’s sternum. He was asleep in moments, a little patch of drool from the corner of his mouth spreading over Stretch’s sweatshirt.

Stretch looked down at him and he was pretty sure that squeezing pressure he felt in his soul meant he was dying. At least he was gonna die happy.

“we’re getting you in those panda pajamas before the end of the night,” Stretch mumbled. He wrapped an arm around Edge, settling a hand under his bony bottom and holding him close. Almost absently, he pressed a kiss to the top of his head, right between the kitten ears. The baby stirred minutely, breathing out a tiny sigh.

An hour later Blue found them like that and the sight of his brother curled up under a blanket with what seemed to be a naked Edge brought up some very serious and perplexed questions. He tucked them into the back of his mind for later, carefully drawing the blanket back up over the two of them.

His brother sighed sleepily, his hand sliding up to cradle Edge’s skull in a gentle, protective hold. In turn, Edge burrowed deeper into the blanket, his face pressed against Papy’s sternum and a blotch of magic drooled from his lax mouth darkening the sweatshirt. Blue shook his head and left them there to sleep.

But not before taking a picture.

-finis


	2. A Lot Edgier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, Stretch did say he was taking pictures.
> 
> A sequel to the previous chapter, “A Little Edgy”

* * *

It was second day in a row that a Fell monster had showed up uninvited in Stretch’s living room. He was thinking of putting up a sign with their hours on them. Fell monsters welcome on Tuesdays and Thursdays only, between 12pm and 5pm. No soliciting.

Today was fucking Wednesday and he’d earned a day off from this bullshit.

Edge stood in that asshole way he had, so that he was looming over Stretch where he was sprawled on the sofa. He was in fine not-baby form, back to his normal clothes and also his normal grumpy expression. A shame such a nice piece of ass had to come with that face but eh, that was why they’d invented doggy-style. Not that Stretch knew from personal experience… “I need to speak to you.”

“i’ve never been able to stop you,” Stretch yawned. He shifted to drape one long leg over the back of the sofa. “but you might choose a less salty tone if you want something from me.”

“Yesterday,” Edge ground out and nope, still salty and sour as vinegar chips, the fucker. “I assume you have photos of the incident.”

“is that what we’re calling it? the ‘incident’,” Stretch made little finger quotes just to see Edge hate him doing it. From the way his brow bone twitched, he’d nailed it. “maybe,” Stretch said, shrugging. “not giving them to you. you can torture me, pull out my fingernails-”

“You don’t have fingernails, idiot.”

“break my bones, rip out my eyes, i won't…ouch!” He glared up at Edge, rubbing the top of his skull where the other skeleton had smacked him. “that was a bad touch. i need an adult.”

“The only adult around here is Blue and he’s with your Alphys. Now give me the pictures.”

“no,” Stretch sulked. He slouched down, half his face hidden beneath the neck of his hoodie, muffling his words. “and you can’t make me. i’m not letting you tear them up.”

“Leaving aside the fact that I _can_ make you—”

“i’m going to tell blue you’re picking on me. he’ll cut off your cooking plans.”

“—I’m not going to tear them up!” Edge snarled.

Yeah, right, and he probably had a bridge in Waterfall to sell. “i don’t believe you. why else would you want them? you’re not going to lull me into a false sense of security, you don’t have any to spare.”

For the first time in Stretch’s memory, Edge looked away from him first which…wow. That was like some anti-dominant weakness shit or something, right? He was quiet for a long moment, fingers drumming against his elbow, before he finally ground out, “I want them for Red.”

“you…really?”

“Of course,” Edge snapped. “He doesn’t have anything left from when we were children. He made a comment this morning about regretting not taking pictures while I was…transformed. Of course, he implied they were for blackmail but—”

“but you know better,” Stretch finished. Slowly, he grinned, giving Edge an appraising look. “huh. wow, that’s actually really sweet.”

“Shut up. Do you have the pictures or not?”

“hmm.” Stretch steepled his fingers, considering, just to see Edge shifting impatiently. When he could see crimson magic starting to spark at Edge’s fingertips, he sighed. Giving in this fast sucked but holding out longer was probably going to involve property damage. “you know, if this was a video game, you’d have to do a quest for me first. hang on.” He disappeared with a telltale pop of teleportation, returning moments later, holding out a sheaf of photos. “here you go.”

Edge’s expression shifted from his normal constipated distaste to horror as he flipped through the pictures. He stopped on the one of him with smashed cinnamon bunny on his face, beaming happily at the camera. It was a particular favorite of Stretch’s. Right now it was the background on his phone. And his profile picture on the Undernet. “What the fuck am I wearing?!”

Stretch shrugged, flopping back into the loving yet lumpy comfort of his sofa. “don’t ask me, you came that way straight from the factory.”

He shook his head. “My brother is far more disturbed than I ever thought.”

“nah, it was cute as hell.” Stretch slouched against the sofa arm, watching Edge continue to flip through the stack.

“Exactly,” The last picture made him pause and redness crept up his cheekbones. Oh, right. Welp, he hadn’t meant to include that picture. Oops. "You took a picture of that?“ he hissed, his eye lights pinpoints of rage.

"do you not see that i am asleep in that picture too?” Stretch snorted. “i’m good but i’m not that good. even i can’t be in two places at once. eh, not fast enough to take a picture, anyway. blue took it. i can keep it if you want?”

He held out a hand and Edge clutched the pictures to his chest. “No!”

“Aww, you like the cuddle pics,” Stretch cooed. It was pretty cute. Not to mention Edge had been bare-bone naked when the two of them had woken up, the baby pajamas little more than a rag. It was pretty damn difficult to be aloof and dignified when all you were wearing was a blanket but hell, Edge hadn’t done half-bad. Stretch would give him an eight-point-five on a scale of ten. It probably went to eleven if he took into account Edge stalking out the door in the same blanket, ignoring Blue’s shrill offer of clothes. Stretch would have paid a fortune to see Edge strolling into his own house in Underfell like that. Two fortunes.

“I’m planning on burning it.”

“whatever,” Stretch yawned. “better make sure to put a hex on it when you do. blue made a bunch of copies.”

Edge closed his eyes, his expression one of truest pain. “You are all disturbed.”

“yeah, and you’re just plain disturbing. beat it, edgelord, i need a nap.” He sank back on the sofa and closed his eyes. He was mostly asleep when he felt a light pressure against his skull, gentle and warm. “wha—” he blinked sleepily, to see Edge leaning over him.

“According to these pictures, I owed you one of those,” Edge smirked. “Go to sleep, lazy ass.”

He turned on heel—

(–and Stretch could admit to some jealousy at how well he walked in those heels. Not as good as bare-assed but–)

-closing the door gently behind him.

Stretch reached up and touched the spot on his skull, almost between his eye sockets. He fancied he could still feel the warmth and distantly noticed the slight tremor in his fingers.

Uh, nope. All kinds of nope right there. Not dealing with this shit today.

With an impatient huff, he rolled over, burrowing into the sofa. He had a sleepy thought of putting that sign up, Tuesdays and Thursdays only for Fell bullshit but…nah.

He told himself he wasn’t thinking about that kiss.

Not even a little.

-finis-


	3. Keeping Elastic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Stretch's turn to be the de-aged one and as with so many things, results do vary.

* * *

When Red texted him about what happened, Edge hurried through his morning rounds as quickly as he could while still maintaining his normal composure. He had no idea where his brother got his information but hearing that Stretch had gotten himself into some bizarre situation that had left him temporarily as a child seemed like an opportunity not to be missed.

This he had to see for himself.

Once he’d checked in at every guard post, taking a moment to snarl at his brother for napping before it was even noon, and recalibrated every trap, he went home, ignoring the stares of the Snowdin citizens who were unaccustomed to seeing him at this hour. Even he was allowed to vary his schedule from time to time.

He barely took the time to change out of his uniform before heading over to Underswap. A necessary evil if he wanted to avoid the attention of those who lived in that Snowdin. A quick jaunt through the machine’s portal and soon enough he was standing on the Swap brothers' porch, knocking firmly and waiting eagerly for a glimpse of Stretch as a pathetic child. He did hope Blue allowed him to take a picture or two.

The door was yanked open with a rush of displaced air and before Edge could so much as greet him, Blue snarled out, “What the hell do you want?!”

Edge blinked down at him in shock; he couldn’t recall ever seeing the little Blueberry as anything but cheerfully delighted to answer the door.

To see him frazzled and actually profane was enough to make him want to double-check that he’d come out in the correct Universe.

He seemed equally surprised to see Edge, but it didn’t stop him from grabbing Edge by the hand and yanking him into the house. “Oh, thank heavens, come in, please.”

“What—” Edge stumbled after him, unable to even kick the snow off his boots before Blue was closing the door behind him, chattering on frantically.

“Obviously you’re here to see Pappy and obviously you’re here to gloat so you can make fun of him later and normally that would just make me shake my head at you two and maybe a little sad but he’s been crying since Undyne dropped him off and I don’t know anything about children!” Blue burst out, words exploding from him until he ran out of breath, dropped his head into his hands as he heaved for air.

“Um.” Edge stood frozen on their carpet, melting snow from his boots darkening it. This was not at all what he had been expecting.

“Why would I know about children?” Blue demanded, his ranting carrying him away when Edge could only shrug weakly. “My brother raised me, and I’ve spent my time training for the guard, the closest I get to children is occasionally bumping into the ones who follow Alphys around!”

That was more than Edge ever interacted with them. He glanced around the living room and found nothing that hadn’t been there the last time he’d visited. “Where is he?”

“He was crying earlier and now he’s hiding. I don’t know what to do!” Blue sounded close to tears himself, miserably unhappy. “Maybe he’s hungry. Can you watch him for a moment while I make some lunch?”

“Me?” Edge took a startled step back and gave the door a longing glance. “I know less about children than you do!”

But Blue looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown, pleading shining in his eye lights, and Edge sighed. “Fine, just be quick about it.”

Blue disappeared into the kitchen so quickly it was a wonder he hadn’t learned to teleport. This was the price Edge paid for his hubris. Red had always warned him about the cost of revenge; if it wouldn’t bring the battle to an end, it was only going to increase the debt.

He’d just never expected babysitting to be on the price list.

Edge sat on the sofa with a huff and wondered how he was supposed to watch a child when he wasn’t even certain where they were.

The answer came in the form of rustling from behind him. The sound traveled down the length of the sofa to the end and from around the arm, a tiny skull poked up, peering at him with wide sockets and soft, pale eye lights.

“Hello,” Edge said awkwardly. This was Stretch and yet, it really wasn’t. The nickname hardly seemed appropriate for one who probably didn’t reach Edge’s knee. The child didn’t reply but he did come closer; the blue t-shirt he was wearing must have been his brother’s and it was still long enough to trail on the floor as he toddled up.

He stared up at Edge with peculiar solemnness. He did resemble Stretch, well, perhaps Rus was a more appropriate moniker. But it was obviously him. Edge wasn’t certain what he had been expecting. Perhaps a lazy child napping on the sofa or an exuberant one, laughing at ridiculous jokes and puns. It wasn’t this silent, wide-eyed little baby bones whose face was still streaked with drying tears.

Suddenly, he held up his little arms, somehow both trusting and imploring. When Edge only looked at him, his small face crumpled into uncertainty and he started to take a step back, perhaps to crawl behind the sofa again.

So Edge carefully lifted him up, settling his slight weight on his knee. Apparently, he was too small a child to balance himself, so Edge held on to him to keep him from tumbling back to the floor. That Blue would prefer his brother to remain unbroken in Edge’s care was strongly implied.

For the first time, a smile broke across Rus’s face. He giggled and bounced, seemingly happy with his newfound height for at least a moment. Then his smile faded and he reached out with cautious fingers. Edge kept himself from flinching away as he set a small hand against the crack in Edge’s left socket with startling gentleness.

“hurt?” he asked solemnly, in a soft, sweet voice that would someday turn into the lazy, sardonic one Edge was accustomed to hearing. Tears trembled again in his small sockets, at the verge of overflowing. The sight made Edge’s soul clench unexpectedly.

“No. It doesn’t hurt anymore,” Edge told him quietly. They both jerked as the kitchen door swung open and Blue came through it, a tray in his hands.

“All right, here we are…oh!” Blue sat the tray down and clasped his hands to his chest with hopeful delight, “There you are, Pappy, I—"

Instantly, Rus was scrambling from Edge’s knee into his arms, burying his face into his shirt and whimpering. It was automatic to pull him in close, cupping his small skull in one careful hand as he and Blue exchanged matching bewildered looks.

Edge gently patted Rus’s quivering back, murmuring softly, “There, you’re all right, you’re safe.” While Blue looked on in hurt and confusion as his brother peeked out around Edge’s arm and shivered, curling back against him tearfully.

“bad,” Rus whimpered, “bad.”

Edge had no idea what to say to that, only held him and tried awkwardly to soothe those tears. Eventually, Rus drifted into an unsettled sleep in the curve of Edge’s arm, with an occasional hiccoughing sob escaping him. Only then did Blue creep in closer. He pulled a blanket off the back of the sofa before sitting gingerly next to Edge, tucking it around his sleeping brother with tender care.

“Why would he be scared of me?” Blue whispered. His normally starry eye lights were round and narrow, filled with his confused dismay

“I don’t know.” Edge was more than confused himself. He would have thought his own features would be more frightening to a child than Blue’s rounded, happy ones. “How long did Undyne say he’d be this way?”

“She’s coming back for him tonight. She would have kept him at the lab, but she said it isn’t very childproof. Edge—”

He knew what Blue was going to ask and sighed, “I can stay until she comes back.”

“Thank you,” Blue gave him a weak smile. “I’m not sure what happened when Pappy was little to make him so frightened of me, but I’d rather not traumatize his second childhood, too. Not if I can help it.”

Edge nodded slowly, looking at the sleeping child cradled into the curve of his arm, so small and trusting. By tonight he’d be much taller, likely a cigarette dangling from his fingers, with insults and sarcasm poised lazily between his tongue and teeth to be wielded with razor-like precision whenever he worked up enough energy to do it.

What had happened in between this child and that adult? Edge doubted very much that Stretch was going to volunteer any information. It made him wonder what his own brother would say if he asked. Probably less.

He’d come over here expecting to find material to mock his not-quite-nemesis, perhaps take a humiliating picture or two. Instead, he’d stumbled across a mystery that he wasn’t certain how to solve.

But looking at the sleeping child curled trustingly in his arms filled him with determination to try.

-fin-


	4. A Bit of a Stretch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edge has a few questions for Stretch after his de-aging incident. Stretch has a few questions of his own. Answers are the only thing that seem to be in short supply.

* * *

_i need to talk to u. w/out my bro_

Edge looked at the text with a frown, reluctantly curious. It had been nearly a week since Stretch’s childish little incident, and he hadn’t seen him since Undyne had returned to take him away. Presumably she hadn’t had any difficulties returning him to his normal state or not that Edge heard from his brother.

So why did Stretch want to speak to him now?

Only one way to find out. Edge replied to the text, _Come to Underfell._

In less than a minute, there was a pop of teleportation and Stretch was in his living room, looking, well, exactly as he was supposed to. In an oversized orange hoodie, his hands tucked into the pocket, overtop track pants and untied sneakers with the laces damp from dragging in the snow. What wasn’t normal was his tight expression and before he could speak, Edge held up a hand.

“Not here. Follow me.”

Almost, Stretch protested, his teeth parting. He seemed to rethink it and shrugged, following after Edge as he led them outside. The walk through Snowdin was brief and Stretch didn’t flinch, but Edge saw him twitch occasionally. He understood; it was strange to see mirror images of Monster you knew, ghosts of what someone could be.

He led Stretch out of town, past the bridge and to where the first of the traps were. Or last, depending on the direction of the travel. Edge pointed out a tree on the other side where a red light attached to the trunk was flashing. “Shortcut us over there.”

“you hate shortcutting.” It was the first thing Stretch said since he arrived and he sounded normal enough, that faint, sardonic note in his smoke-husky voice.

“I do but it’ll take us past the trap without me having to recalibrate it.” A moment of queasiness was worth sparing an hour of effort.

His vision blurred and when it cleared, they were on the other side. It was slightly smoother than one of his brother’s shortcuts and Edge wondered sourly if Stretch was better at it or if Red was simply an asshole. Either option was possible. In any case, he only had to lean against the tree for a moment, waiting for his queasiness to ease before they walked on. Not far away was a sentry post and Edge wrinkled his nose at the smell of burnt dog biscuits, making a note to discuss the issue with Doggo before his next shift.

When Stretch saw they were stopping, he ignored the chair and instead hopped up on the counter, long legs dangling. “why do you want to talk all the way out here? if you didn’t want to chat in the house, why not waterfall or something?”

“Waterfall is out of my territory and you wanted somewhere away from your brother,” Edge preferred to remain standing, crossing his arms over his chest and regarding his alternate evenly. “Sans…Red is the only person who does sentry duty in multiple areas because he can shortcut. He’s in Hotland right now so we are alone.”

And Doggo’s post was one of the few places Red hadn’t been able to place his listening devices. The other sentry was far too attuned any unusual noises and was quick to find them. It was the closest Edge could come to a guarantee that Red wouldn’t be listening in, but there was no need to tell Stretch that. “Now, you wanted to talk.”

Instead of answering, Stretch lit a cigarette and normally Edge would snarl about him fouling the air around them. Today, he would grudgingly admit Stretch looked like he needed it. There was a faint, visible tremor in his hands and his eye lights darted around, almost hunted. Perhaps that could be chalked up to simply being in Underfell, but Edge didn’t think so.

He waited, clinging to patience while Stretch smoked until he finally threw down the butt and let it wink out in the snow.

“what happened when i was little?” Stretch asked abruptly. “blue won’t talk to me about it. he doesn’t not talk to me, okay, he tells me everything, but this he’s talking around and i don’t like that.” He fidgeted with his lighter, flicking it and letting the flame waver a moment before snapping it closed. “what he did say was you were there for a while and you helped out. so what gives? why is my bro so upset that i spent a few hours at knee high?”

Edge studied him. It seemed Blue wasn’t interested in solving the mystery of his brother’s past, whether in an attempt to protect him or to simply forget the entire incident, Edge wasn’t sure. But Edge saw no reason to hide from truths, even painful ones.

“Whenever you saw him, you cried,” Edge told him flatly. “It helped a little when he changed his clothes, but you still refused to let him hold you. you spent most of the day with me until Undyne returned for you.”

He’d actually spent a better part of it sitting on Edge’s lap on the floor, happily banging together pots and pans, and stacking measuring cups, but Edge saw no reason to bring that up. Blue had been deemed reluctantly acceptable when he was no longer in his uniform, but it seemed little Rus was unwilling to forgive him for having worn it before. Edge suspected it was a very good thing he’d changed before coming to Underswap or the child might well have spent the entire day behind the sofa.

To his surprise, Stretch went oddly pale, the color his magic lent to his bones fading, leaving him bone-white, and his eye lights shrank to pin pricks. He looked away, letting out a weak laugh.

“is that all?” He fumbled out another cigarette and lit it, exhaling with, “guess i'd be upset if kids cried whenever they saw my face, too.”

“I'm sure you would, but it wasn't kids, it was his brother,” Edge said slowly. “Why is that? Why would you be upset at seeing your brother?”

“beats me.” It sounded like a lie, thin and wrong. Stretch shrugged and it was somehow nervous, uncomfortable. “i don't remember much when i was little like that. hell, i don’t really remember much before i was a teenager. blue was barely out of diapers, so to speak, it's not like i knew him when i was a kid.”

“Someone who looked like him, then,” Edge pressed relentlessly.

“i...don't know,” Stretch said falteringly, “how would i know? it’s not like i remember being little either time, how would i…i don’t…”

He was shaking, his gaze wide and oddly vacant, and his cigarette fell from his limp fingers, hissing out in the snow. He looked as if he was close to fainting, all from a few simple questions.

"Put your head down," Edge told him brusquely. He moved to stand in front of him, forcing him to lean over when he didn't move.

"i don't remember," Stretch whispered, almost inaudibly, "i…i don't…"

"Easy, you're all right," Edge told him softly, the same as he had when he'd been small enough to cradle in his arms. He made the attempt now, warily sliding an arm around him, and was forced to catch him when Stretch collapsed against him, almost sliding from his perch.

Comforting him as a child had been almost a reflex, all too easy, and Edge found it was much same as an adult. The difference was Stretch didn’t cry. He trembled in Edge’s arms, the entirety of his surprisingly light weight leaning against him.

He was mumbling beneath his breath almost too quietly to hear, and Edge strained to catch the words.

There was little enough to hear, nothing more than the same words, over and over. “he’s gone, he’s gone.”

“He’s gone,” Edge agreed softly, although he had no clue who ‘he’ was. A wracking shudder went through him and abruptly Edge was reminded of being awoken by one of his brother’s rare nightmares. If they were rare. Red would never have allowed this sort of comfort, but somehow, it was easy enough to offer to Stretch, with his layer of sarcasm peeled away, leaving this frail vulnerability behind. Edge shifted, pulling him in close enough to rub his back, murmuring against his auditory canal, “He’s gone, you’re safe.”

It seemed to help. Slowly, the shivering eased. It took longer for Stretch to pull away, scrubbing against his face with a sleeve as though to clean away tears he hadn’t shed.

“sorry,” he said stiffly. “i…sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Edge told him, softly. There were more mysteries now than he’d started with and it was unlikely he’d be getting answers to them. Already he could see the walls falling back into place, the brief vulnerability he’d never suspected existed being tucked back away. The biggest mystery being left behind was ‘who’.

Whoever they were, they were someone a child was desperately afraid of, enough so that trying to remember him as an adult was nearly enough to cause a panic attack. One that had brought a too-quiet, frightened child to…well. To Stretch. He remembered that tiny baby bones, his sweet laughter as he played…his teary fear whenever his brother came too close…

Gone, Stretch had said, and that was a good thing or Edge might well have more LV for the others to disapprove of.

“i’m just…thanks, then, i guess,” Stretch laughed uncomfortably. Sitting on the ledge as he was, he couldn’t really withdraw from Edge, and though he shifted as if he wanted to, Edge didn’t remove his steadying hands. Not yet. “not sure where all that shit came from, but thanks for not ditching me to knock my skull against a tree.”

That sent a sharp throb through his soul. He’d meant it as a joke, Edge knew, but there was no humor in him when he quietly told Stretch, “I would never leave you alone like that.”

He wilted, whatever pride he’d been shoring himself up with was failing, and the way he leaned into Edge’s hands seemed somehow reluctant and yearning. That vulnerability, not yet hidden away, was soft in his voice as he said, “why do you even care?”

“Despite what you seem to think, I’m not soulless.”

Stretch huffed softly and his breath was harsh with cigarettes, sweet with magic. “i don’t think you’re soulless.”

“No, only that I replaced it with a chunk of coal.”

“you said it, not me.”

He’d never seen Stretch smile like that or if he had, it certainly hadn’t been directed at him. Stretch was an irritant, smirking and smoking and…his smiles weren’t supposed to be soft and sweet, for once not mocking but instead almost inviting him to share the joke and—

“We should get back,” Edge said brusquely, finally stepping back, and he ignored the sharp, internal twinge when that smile faded.

“yeah, i should get home.” Stretch stumbled as he hopped down, tripping over one of those stupidly untied laces and it was a reflex to steady him, pulling him back up. It left him with his face inches from Edge’s, his sockets wide. He took a step back and Edge let him, his hands reluctantly letting go. “um, yeah, i really have to go.”

He vanished without another word, teleporting away and leaving Edge standing with his own confusion in the snow.

Only to realize that Stretch had left him on the other side of the traps. An hour ago, that would have irritated him, but now Edge was almost grateful.

It would take hours for him to make his way back home and that was fine. He could use something to do.

-fin


	5. Ankle Biter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Red’s turn to be de-aged. Luckily, Edge knows someone who has experience with babies.

* * *

It was close to noon when the pounding on the front door woke Stretch. Much too early to be dragging ass out of bed but whoever was exercising their fist on their door wasn’t taking ‘not home’ for an answer.

Stretch shuffled down the stairs, bathrobe hanging open over his shorts and T-shirt. He scrubbed at his dry sockets with the back of his hand, grumbling out, “yeah, yeah, keep your hair on.”

As it turned out, the knocker didn’t have any hair to cling to. Edge stood on the porch in that stiff posture of his that made Stretch wonder if he shoved a broomstick through his pelvis every morning to make sure his spine was level.

He hadn’t seen Edge in a few weeks; some shit was going down in Underfell, or that was the Fell bros’ excuse for skipping out on movie night. To have him showing up on their porch in the middle of the damn day meant things, probably none of them good.

In his arms was a bundle, wrapped up in Edge’s prized scarf. Before Stretch could even put together a ‘what the fuck’, Edge twitched aside the corner of the scarf to reveal a sleeping baby bones, one with suspiciously familiar bone structure

Stretch sighed and held open the door. Looked like his penance for skipping out on sentry duty made deliveries.

* * *

“whatever the fuck our science types are working on, they can stop anytime now,” Stretch grumbled. His own turn in short pants was still a sore point between him and Blue, his bro being torn between outright asking what was up and pretending it never happened. Just as well, Stretch wanted to talk about it again right around as much as he wanted to loan out a femur to the Dogi.

At least now they had baby clothes laying around. Red hadn't been happy about being changed into the panda outfit and Stretch nearly lost a finger to those baby shark teeth. Little bastard was quick, even when he was fun-size.

Luckily, Blue had a few cinnamon bunnies in the kitchen. Stretch was currently tearing off pieces and handing them to Red, watching in morbid fascination as he stuffed them into his sharp-toothed maw. How Red and Edge hadn’t accidentally bitten their own hands off as kids was a mystery for the ages.

Edge was still standing stiffly next to him and Stretch wondered idly if he’d forgotten to take out the broomstick this morning. Maybe that was what made Edge sound so surly when he snapped out, “Watch your language!”

That made Stretch blink. He played back everything he’d said recently in his head and came across a possible stumbling block. Disbelief was dripping from his voice as Stretch asked, “did you just tell me to not swear in front of your brother?”

To Stretch’s delight, a flush of red tinted Edge’s cheekbones, “He’s a baby.”

“ _your_ brother?” Stretch asked gleefully, handing another piece of cinnamon bunny to the brother in question. Red crammed it into his mouth, the pastry decimated instantly into mushy crumbs between those teeth. “i learned curses that left permanent scars on my soul from your brother.”

That blush heightened and truly, the heavens smiled down upon Stretch on this day. Edge didn’t give in, though, snapping out, “Not when he’s like that!”

“okay, okay, i’ll keep the rating to pg.” With the last bite of the bunny messily consumed, Stretch wiped Red’s face clean, neatly avoiding his snapping teeth. “all right, you little piranha, down you go.”

He plunked Red on the floor and sat crosslegged across from him, taking a quick picture of his scowling face with his little panda ears bobbling. Fucking adorable, all there was to it. That frown turned to glee when Stretch covered his own face with his hands, quickly peeking out to earn a chorus of happy baby burbling. Oh, yeah, he was a regular comedian for the one and under crowd.

Having Edge agree was unexpected. “You’re good with him.”

Stretch gave peekaboo a time out to send Edge a sour look. “thanks. i did manage with blue.”

But to his surprise, Edge shook his head. “No, Blue and I managed with you. You’re actually very good at this.”

A compliment from the Edgelord? Seemed like it was his turn to blush. Stretch rubbed at the back of his skull uncomfortably, mumbling out, “um, thanks.”

A little avoidance seemed to be in order. Stretch scooped up the baby, flopping on his back and dangling Red above him. The baby squealed happily, hands and legs flailing. Had Red ever been so happy in his actual childhood? Stretch had no way of knowing, but he had his doubts. He didn’t remember his own baby days, either time, but since Blue looked like he was gonna burst into tears anytime it came up, Stretch was guessing he wasn’t a bundle of sunshine as a kid.

He swore he heard bones creaking as Edge slowly lowered himself to the floor to sit by them. That broomstick was getting a workout today, for sure.

“babies are easy,” Stretch said, singsong, as Red crowed his happiness, “they pretty much stay where you put em and if they cry, you toss some food their way. at least we don’t have to worry about diapers.”

“Thank you for that mental image.” Edge hesitantly reached out to touch and hastily pulled his hand back when Red growled and snapped his teeth.

“nah, don’t poke his face. like this.” Stretch lowered Red to sit on his chest. With an effort, Stretch lifted his head from the floor, crossing his eye lights and sticking out his tongue with a loud, “plllllb!”

Red laughed in delight, slapping his tiny hands on Stretch’s rib cage with enough force to make him wince. “see? easy!”

“I’m sure being a fool is very easy for you.”

That made Stretch sit up with a scowl, setting Red back on the floor on his little bottom. “look, you asked for my help.”

But Edge looked a little melancholy, something almost wistful on his face as he said, “I did. And I appreciate it.”

Okay, yeah, it might be hard for someone like Edge to unwedge his broomstick enough for a little baby silliness. “there’s no one here. make a face for the baby.”

That scowl was not what Stretch had in mind. “I refuse to behave like a ridiculous—“

“c’mon,” Stretch coaxed. He made another silly face of his own and Red laughed gleefully. “see? he loves it!” The visible waver in Edge’s expression made him add with impulsive sincerity. “i won’t tell and i won’t tease. try it.”

Reluctantly, Edge pursed his mouth, crimson tongue slowly poking out and Edge blowing a raspberry was a sight that would stay with Stretch until the end of time.

More importantly, Red gave up the equivalent of a baby cackle and Edge smiled reluctantly.

“see! you’ve got some idiot in…you…” Stretch blinked, trailing off. Edge had turned towards him at the same moment Stretch leaned in and it left their faces entirely too close. Unwillingly, Stretch remembered that time in Underfell, Edge’s unexpected gentleness in the face of Stretch’s near panic at the nebulous memory of his childhood. Another brief moment of being too close and the temptation he’d felt then struck again, hastily shoved back as he had last time; it was a terrible idea, foolish and impulsive and it could only bring trouble.

Only Edge didn’t seem to have gotten the warning memo from his instincts because he leaned in and pressed their mouths together. Softly, almost chaste, a tender brush and Stretch pulled away with a gasp.

Something unreadable was glittering in Edge’s eye lights, open and vulnerable in a way he hadn’t even been when he was temporarily a baby bones himself.

“oh,” Stretch said, blankly. His own thoughts were a turmoil, what the fuck, this was…they didn’t….

“I’m sorry,” Edge said abruptly. That vulnerability was fading and it made something lurch painfully in Stretch’s soul. Edge started to stand, drawing away. But he didn’t fight when Stretch caught hold of his scarf, sinking back down as he was pulled into another kiss.

The scream of Stretch’s instincts was muffled by his soft groan as he deepened the kiss. Edge’s mouth was sweetly pliant beneath his, teeth parting, and those sharp teeth were easier to navigate like this, with equal parts care and tongue. The tang of his magic was a heady spice, his lax tongue coming slowly alive against Stretch’s and he cupped Edge’s jaw in one hand, swallowing his sigh and this was…oh, this was…

“if you two are about done, can someone get me my fucking pants?”

They jerked apart, heads turning as one to see a full-sized version of Red scowling at them. The remains of the panda pajamas were draped haphazardly over his bare pelvis, which left a horrifying amount of scarred bone on display.

Stretch cleared his throat, “i didn’t teach him that word.”

“No, I’m sure he’s known the word fuck since birth.” Edge’s brusqueness made Stretch’s soul sink, fuck, he’d known this was a stupid idea, he’d _known_ it.

Glumly, Stretch scooted back to sit on the couch, eye lights discreetly averted as Edge drew a pair of shorts from his inventory and handed them to his brother. He didn’t watch as Red scrambled into them, muttering increasingly foul curses beneath his breath as he accepted shirt, shoes, and jacket as well.

Only when a pair of untied sneakers appeared in his line of vision did Stretch look up again.

Red lit a cigar, exhaling a foul cloud of smoke even as he smirked. “welp, thanks for looking after me, honey bun. if it ever happens again, don’t think babysittin’ requires that much inspecting my bro’s tonsils.”

Not much Stretch could say to that. From Red’s viciously sharp grin, he knew it; it wasn’t even worth pointing out that they didn’t have tonsils. Stretch managed a mute nod and Red wandered off in the direction of the door. He didn’t wait, heading out into the snow even as Edge hesitated by the sofa.

“Thank you for your help,” Edge said stiffly and Stretch almost choked on a bitter laugh. Broomstick firmly back in place, check, and now seemed like a great time to head over to Muffet’s, get an early start in honey-laced denial.

Only the gentle touch of fingertips against his cheekbone made him startle, involuntarily looking up.

Those crimson eye lights weren’t as open as they’d been only moments before, but it was a close thing. “I’ll see you at the next movie night?”

“um, yeah, sure,” Stretch said dumbly. Those fingertips lingered, the touch firming, holding him still as Edge seemed to come to a decision. He swooped down like a damn bat, making Stretch jerk, but the soft brush of Edge’s mouth against his own again stilled him. Too brief by far and he was gone just as quickly, following his brother out with a quiet click of a closing door.

Stretch exhaled slowly, touched his mouth with trembling fingertips. How was it, he wondered distantly, that all of them were somehow getting turned into baby bones for a day but the only mystery Stretch cared about came from a kiss?

Suddenly, he was a lot more interested in watching ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ this weekend than he’d been a few hours ago. Stretch got to his feet, gathering up the shredded panda jammies and dusting cinnamon bunny crumbs off the table to disappear into the carpet.

Time to get dressed and head out to the last half of sentry duty for a nap. And if Stretch’s thoughts wandered back occasionally to the memory of a kiss, well, hey, his bro could be proud, right?

At least he was _trying_ to solve a puzzle.

-finis-


	6. A Bolt From the Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edge wasn't a skeleton who was easily rattled, (heh). But when it's Blue's turn to be de-aged and Stretch is out of commission, it's enough to weaken the stiffest spine.

* * *

Edge was not one often taken hold of by shock.

Underfell was an effective teacher, one that taught the necessity of quick reactions, and a moment spent frozen in indecision was a moment that might end in dust.

But when Edge opened his front door impatiently to see who was knocking at it in the late afternoon when he was off-duty, he found himself in such a moment, staring in mute surprise at what lay before him.

Stretch was standing on his porch, but instead of his normal cocky smirk, he looked at Edge with a sort of dull confusion. One of his eye lights was blown out in a wide, diffused cloud and the other narrow as a pen light. Slung on his hip was a squalling baby skeleton, tears streaming down their small face as they rocked precariously on their perch. Neither of them were dressed to be out in the cold, only in shorts and t-shirts and to Edge’s growing horror, he saw Stretch was barefooted out in the snow.

“help me,” Stretch said weakly and he sagged to the ground.

The baby fell from his loosened grasp and for one brief, horrible moment, Edge imagined him hitting the porch, that fine, porcelain smooth skull cracking against the hard cement.

Barely in time, Edge caught him by the scruff of his shirt, the child briefly dangling in his unsteady grip before Edge managed to get an arm under him and hoisted the baby against his chest. He was bawling unhappily, reaching for his brother who’d collapsed in a heap on their porch, flakes of snow already collecting on his still form.

“Red!” Edge shouted and his brother appeared at his side, eye lights blazing and an attack already forming around him. The bones quivered, hesitated, then vanished as Red waved a hand, taking in the scene before him with the same aghast bewilderment as Edge.

His brother shook himself from his shock much quicker, “boss, what the fuck?”

“Here.” Edge rudely thrust the baby as Red, who took him automatically, then crouched next to Stretch’s prone body. Carefully, he checked Stretch over. His skull wasn’t cracked but a quick glance showed a heavy bruise on the backside of it, bad enough to explain his loss of consciousness. He gathered Stretch gingerly into his arms, warily looking out over their yard. There was no sign that the Swap brothers had been followed --and yes, looking at the child he could see indeed that was who was on his porch, Blue in miniature-- but if their attacker was still in Underswap, he couldn’t assume they wouldn’t find their way here.

Stretch wasn’t light and he was tall enough to make carrying him awkward, gangling arms and legs dangling. Edge grunted with the effort of carrying Stretch over to the sofa. Behind him, he could hear the door shutting and the locks snicking closed, the baby’s sobs trickling into unhappy hiccoughs.

“his hp is down,” Red said, low.

_No shit_ , Edge almost said, casting an irritated glance back at his brother. His glance snagged, pausing as it took in something that seemed more out of a book of fairy tales than his own brother. The baby was expertly folded into Red’s arms, still sniffling but cuddling in close, his tiny skull resting against the fur-lined collar of Red’s jacket as Red rubbed a soothing hand down his back. He’d expected Red to plop the baby on the floor the moment the door was closed, but he only carried Blue along over to the sofa, the three of them looking down at Stretch who showed no sign of regaining consciousness with the change in scenery.

Blue whimpered again, struggling against Red’s hold to reach out for his brother, but Red didn’t let him squirm loose. “nope, hang out with me for a mo’, baby bones. don’t you fret, your bro’s gonna be fine.” His watery chortle as Red gave him a playful chuck under the chin was almost as surreal as seeing him as a baby at all.

Edge ran a couple of checks of his own. Stretch’s HP wasn’t the strongest to begin with and yes, he’d lost a point off his minuscule 5; even as a baby, Blue’s HP was at a hearty 20. But the worst contrast to his brother was that Stretch was so still, so quiet, that glaring bruise standing out against his pale skull. What sort of person attacked a Monster caring for an infant?

There was a certain anger starting to pulse in his own skull. As gently as he could manage, Edge lifted the hem of Stretch’s t-shirt, looked him over for more bruises but the one on his skull seemed to be the only one. He checked beneath his shorts with even more fastidiousness, keeping the touch professionally discreet. There was none of his growing anger in any of his brisk, careful touches, and still from behind him came his brother’s voice.

“calm down, bro, his hp ain’t dropping anymore, so he’ll be fine.”

Fine. He would be fine. Except how he’d been attacked in Underswap with his de-aged brother in his care. Briefly, he thought of their conversation after Stretch returned from his own second toddlerhood. His fear of...someone...that he claimed was gone. Perhaps not so gone as Stretch believed.

“He needs to get some food in him,” Edge said abruptly. He stood up and went to the kitchen, opening the fridge and taking out the small container of broth he’d set aside to make soup with that weekend. Every movement was carried out with precision, from setting the pan on the burner to pouring the warm broth into a bowl, carrying it back out to the sofa with a spoon in hand.

Spooning out the broth a teaspoon at a time was an exercise in patience, dribbling it into Stretch’s slackly open mouth and coaxing him to swallow. Every droplet would go towards his HP and hopefully his consciousness, and Edge was nothing if not persistent in it, sitting on the side of the sofa and dosing out each spoonful.

His gaze kept straying back to his brother and Blue. Concerned as he was for Stretch, there were Mettaton shows not half as entertaining as watching Red sitting cross-legged on their floor playing patty-cake with a tiny baby bones with near disturbing cheer, and if Edge had a single regret in his life it would be that he couldn’t record that. Not only was it an excellent blackmail material, it was a shame Stretch was missing the sight.

His brother had dug out a pair of footie pajamas for Blue from somewhere, fluffy and almost too-large and the hood was drawn up over his skull with long, floppy bunny ears hanging from it. It seemed Blue had been starry-eyed from creation and his babbling laughter was charming, even as his lanky brother’s silence carried on.

It was only when the broth was nearly gone that Stretch groaned, finally rousing. He blinked at Edge and the smile that spread across his face was unexpectedly sultry for one with a head injury, “hey, handsome, when did you stop by?”

Edge reeled back, away from the languid hand that reached out to him, hyper-aware of his brother watching with amused interest. He ignored the heat of the blush staining across his cheekbones and said, “I didn’t, you came here.”

“...huh?...what do you...holy shit,” Stretch sat up suddenly, sockets going wide and wild. “blue?? where’s my brother--”

“he’s right here, honey bun, calm down.” Red scooped up the baby bones, who’d looked up when he heard his brother’s voice, already starting to whimper as he reached for Stretch. Red brought him over, settling him into the cradle of Stretch’s outstretched arms.

He snuggled the baby close somewhat desperately, nuzzled a kiss against the top of Blue’s skull while he giggled happily, “Pappy!”

“yep, pappy,” Stretch mumbled, “that’s me, kiddo.”

Edge gave them a moment before giving into the impatient need clouding his own skull and asked quietly, “Who attacked you?”

He wasn’t expecting Stretch to blink at him in confusion, “wha…? attacked me? no one attacked me, why would they?”

Instead of arguing, Edge reached out to lightly touched the bruise on his skull and Stretch hissed out a groan. “oh, man. so, undyne brought blue over after she’d asked him to stop by and i’m telling you, i have no idea what experiment she’s working on and why she needs to use skeletons to do it, but i’m about over this. anyway, she said it’ll only be a few hours, so i got blue into some clothes and dug out some toys for him to mess with. only, i guess i’m not used to having a baby underfoot anymore, he left some blocks in the middle of the room and i tripped. hit my head on the coffee table, i think. it’s a little woozy after that.” he looked around, a touch apprehensively. “so this is where i ended up, then? sorry about that.”

“You don’t need to apologize.” And if his relief was so overwhelming that his knees felt faintly weak, no one would know while he was sitting. There was no enemy waiting back in Underswap with nefarious intentions, Stretch and Blue were safe.

“nah, it’s fine, honey bun,” Red agreed. His mouth quirked up ruefully, “when we got the machine goin’, didn’t realize we were gonna end up trading babysitting duties, huh?”

“about the last thing on my mind, yeah,” Stretch sighed. Blue was starting to squirm and Stretch set the baby back on the floor.

Blue crawled happily across the carpet, crowing with delight, and as they watched, his joints began to sparkle with an unknown light. In one moment, there was a baby bones on his hands and knees, his bunny jammies scuffing against the carpet. In another, there was a still short but adult-sized Blue, who rolled over to sit, blinking down in bewilderment at his bones covered only in the shreds of pajamas.

Those bright, starry eye lights constricting to pinpricks as he frantically and ineffectively tried to cover himself with his bony hands.

“Can I please have something to wear?” Blue cried. His entire skull was suffused with the shade of his namesake, blushing deeply. Immediately, Red whipped off his jacket and slung it around Blue’s shoulders.

“chivalry ain't dead, huh?” Stretch snickered, ignoring the upraised middle finger Red offered him. “you know, if this is gonna be an ongoing problem, we need a better plan for baby clothes. a material along the lines of the hulk’s shorts would be good.”

Stretch shifted restlessly, one brow bone raised at Edge, and he realized Stretch was trying to get up. Hastily he stood, backing away as Stretch stood, living up to his namesake with a groan. “welp, we can get out of your way. c’mon, bro, let’s head for home.”

Three voices protested immediately,

“I’m not wearing pants!”

“not with my jacket, he ain’t.”

“You don’t have any shoes!”

Stretch blinked at them all, “wow, okay, guess not yet.” He looked down at his bare feet, lifting one and wiggling his toes. “you have any boots without stilettos i can borrow?”

“The heel yes, a blade, no,” Edge said dryly. “Hang on. Brother?”

“yeah, yeah,” Red jerked his chin towards the stairs. “c’mon, blueberry, i got something you can borrow closer to your size.”

“Thank you,” Blue said, shyly, holding Red’s coat around him. That his shyness was utterly unaffected made it that much more charming and Edge watched in astonishment as a ruddy blush bloomed on Red’s cheek bones, his eye lights skittering around in search of a place to look.

“yeah, sure,” Red said, gruffly. “come on.”

Edge didn’t watch them going upstairs, leaving him alone with Stretch for the first time in weeks.

The last time was back when Red had been the baby bones, and that night they’d kissed, once, twice, three times, but nothing more had come of it. On movie night neither of them mentioned it or tried to corner the other, staying by their brother’s sides and if he’d felt those pale eyes grazing over him, Edge hadn’t tried to meet them.

It was for the best. Kissing Stretch had been a foolish impulse, they couldn’t be anything to each other. Stretch should be back in the safety of Underswap and nowhere near Underfell.

Except.

This was where he’d come, dazed and hurting, looking for protection. He’d come here and now Stretch was looking at him with those soft, pale eye lights, thinking Angel-knew what thoughts behind them as his tongue flicking nervously over his teeth.

“boots?” he prompted, and Edge nodded, but made no move towards the closet.

“Stretch--” Edge tried to say more and found he couldn’t. Any words that came to mind were meaningless, trite, and he stood there like a fool, staring into pale eye lights that were waiting on him.

Well, if nothing else, he was no coward.

Stretch’s sockets widened as Edge stepped closer, but he didn’t move away, only blinked once, twice, as Edge leaned in and pressed a light kiss to his mouth. One that Stretch deepened, teeth parting, and his tongue swept lightly over Edge’s own. Their fourth kiss and suddenly Edge wanted a fifth, wanted too many to count, oh, he wanted--

He drew back with a gasp, stumbling back out of the reach of hands that lifted towards him. Those hands fell empty to Stretch’s sides and the emotions on his face were too tangled to parse, only none of them seemed happy. He swallowed and looked down, “yeah, um, so. boots?”

“Don’t leave yet,” Edge blurted. He shouldn’t do this, but. Stretch’s unhappy expression shifted to confusion. “You need to eat something more than broth.”

A faint, lopsided smile curved up Stretch’s mouth. “so...you’re inviting me to dinner, then?”

He could play it off, Edge realized, scoff it away as teasing, nothing more than a meal to recover Stretch’s HP. He could and his inner voice shrieked for him to do just that, this was a dangerous game, didn’t he play enough of those, day in and day out?

But that was simply life in Underfell, nothing that he’d chosen. Nothing that he’d wanted, so very much.

Edge met that hopeful, uncertain gaze and only said simply, “Yes.”

“great,” Stretch flopped back on the sofa, bracing one bare foot against the coffee table. “me and red can hold down the furniture while you and blue get your gordan ramsey on.”

Almost, Edge snapped at him that he wasn’t a servant, his already raised hackles stirring. Before he could, he suddenly noticed Stretch’s hands were clenched in his lap, that his smile was a little too tight and tremulous. A dangerous game, but it seemed they were both willing to play.

“I’ll get started, then,” Edge said, slowly.

“i’ll tell blue when he comes down.” From the speculative glance he sent up to Red’s room, he was no more willing to check on them than Edge was.

Almost, Edge turned to the kitchen, hesitating, then rounded the coffee table, cupping Stretch’s chin in his hand and stealing another quick, soft kiss. Number five, he thought hazily, sighing as Stretch returned it.

Then he drew back, taking a moment to slap Stretch’s foot from the table before he went into the kitchen. For now, Edge planned to lose himself in cooking, give his churning emotions a chance to settle before they made butter of his thoughts.

Dinner first, they could decide on the rest later.

-finis-


End file.
